A little question here I suppose: was it ever actually intended for the American President, when the framers were shaping the office, to be the actual literal head of the military, much in the way that George Washington actually rode with the army during the Whiskey rebellion? I know heads of state still took to the field during this period, so I'm figuring there was at least some kind of idea here for it.
For an AH, any way to have the American President take the field much longer than OTL? Maybe a General succeeds Washington and the position is established as not one for simply government administrators but also has a military charism to it?